Hat, bag, and program holder.



1. 6. HOME. HAT, BAG, AND PROGRAM HOLDER. APPLlCATlON FILED JUNE \0, 1918.

1,292,779; Patented Jan. 28, 1919.

-14 a 4 @Mw JOHN G. HOME, OF ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA.

HAT, BAG, AND PROGRAM HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 28, 1919.

Application filed June 10, 1918. Serial No. 239,156.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN G. HOME, a naturalized citizen of the United States, residing at St. Augustine, in the county of St. Augustine and State of Florida, have invented a new and useful Hat, Bag, and Program Holder, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to self-closing or folding hooks.

One object of this invention is to provide a hook which is specially adapted to be used in theaters to hold a program card or the like on the back of a seat and to afford a convenient means on which a hat or bag may be hung.

Another object is to provide a hook for the uses described which will not catch in clothing or otherwise impede the passage of people between rows of seats.

A further object is to provide a folding hook which will be applicable to a great variety of .uses in many places.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates one practical embodiment of my invention,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the device shown attached to the back of a chair, only a portion of the latter being shown;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the device shown detached;

'Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 and looking in the indicated direction;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 except that the hook is shown unfolded or open;

. Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 3 and looking in the indicated direction; I

Fig. 6 is a View similar to Fig. 5, the section being taken on the line 66 of Fig. 3;

Figs. 7 and 8 are detail elevations respectively of the side and front of the springcarrying pin used in the device.

Numeral 10 designates the seat or chair to which the device is attached.

The device itself comprises only four separate parts, namely a casing 12, a hook 14 pivoted to the casing, a pin 18 attached to the inner end of the hook, and a spring 20 mounted on the pin 18 and normally holding'thehook in a closed or folded position.

The casing 12 is preferably shaped like the half of .a pear split longitudinally, and

it hollowed out or made shell-like. Such a casing is preferably of sheet metal stamped out, out and bent to shape, and is provided with flanges 13 at either end. These flanges provide convenient means by which the device may be mounted and held in place on the chair back, as shown, the flanges being provided with perforations through which fastening screws are passed.

The pear shaped casing 12 is provided with a longitudinal slot 15 which extends centrally of the casing about two-thirds of its length. This slot 15 is formed by properly slitting the casing and bending in the metal to form the inturned hook-inclosing flanges 16. At the lower ends of these inturned flanges a, pivot 17 for the hook 14 is provided, the pivot extending across the space between the flanges and being secured to the same.

The hook is mounted on this pivot 17 intermediate of its ends, the pivot point being such nearer the inner end than the outer, however. Hence a wide swing of the outer end of the hook results in a relatively short movement of the inner end 22. Pivotally mounted on the inner end of the hook is a pin 18 which carries a spring 20 on its shank. The upper end of pin 18 slides in a hole in a transverse lug constituting a shoulder 21 formed integrally with or permanently secured to the inside of the casing. Spring 20 bears at one end against the under face of the shoulder 21, and at the other end works against the head 23 of the pin 18. This head 23 has ears 24 projecting therefrom by which it is pivotally engaged with the inner end 22 of the hook.

The upper and smaller end of the casing is of solid metal as shown at 25 and is not hollowed out like the rest of the casing. The face of said portion is beveled outwardly formin an inclined seat or platform 25, shown learly in Figs. 3 and 4. Against this solid portion or seat the upper end 26 of the hook normally bears and is beveled or inclined to fit the same, and rest firmly upon the seat 25.

It is apparent that the spring 20, hearing as it does against the inner end of the hook through the intermediation of the pin, normally forces this inner hook-end downwardly thereby forcing the outer end 26 upwardly and inwardly to a resting position on seat 25. Any pull outwardly upon the hook will be resisted by the tension of the spring; and when the pull ceases, the spring will restore the hook to its normal position, shown in Fig. 3.

The function of the shoulder or lug 21 is obviously to provide a guide bearing for the pin 18. By means of this shoulder the pin is maintained almost exactly in a. vertical,

downward movement, the upper end of the pin 18 will encounter the under side of the solid portion 25 of the casing, thus stopping the hook.

From the inner end almost to the extreme outer end the hookis shaped to conform to the pear shaped casing. However, just short of its end 26 the hook curves outwardly or away from the casing. Thus the end 26 lies wholly without the slot 15 and provides a finger grip by which the hook may be extended. As Figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6 best show, the slot 15 is barely wide enough to receive the hook without friction. This feature is designedly so; as a result theslot is normally completely filled by the hook and hence the-introduction of dirt, paper and debris of all kinds into the casing is madev To make the return of the hook to position noiseless I may provide the end of the hookwith a rubber or felt facing It is my object primarily to provide a combined hat hook and. program holder.

Two sources of annoyance common to many theaters and public halls are the absence of a convenient hat holder and the absence of proper program distribution. It is an every day sight to see people seated and subjected to the annoyance of holding their hats in their laps. While hat racks have been provided underneath seats, these hat racks are so hard to get at, and are such unsatisfactory hat holders when they are reached, that all women and many men hold their hats in their laps during anentertainment for lack of a better place to put them. A specially obnoxious feature of the hat racks under seats is that when a person stands up to allow another to pass-by, he is very likely to crush his own hat unless careful.

It is equally well known,v how unsatisfac tory' the present widely used methods of program distribution are. Usually either a .boy is employed at each entrance to hand out programs or tables piled high'with them be inserted between the end of the book 26 and its seat 2 5. The spring pressurewill hold the program securely in place until the seat occupant immediately to the rear removes it. All bother about getting aprogram is thus done away with. Each patron finds his program with his seat.

After taking the progrem eachperson will have a convenient hat hook provided. If people pass and danger of crushing appears imminent, the hat may be removed instantly, and the hook will automatically fold back out. of the way.

It should be clear that this invention is not limited by its construction to the usage described above. It may be used not only on the backs of chairs and benches and pews,"

but under book shelves, in bathrooms, in

school rooms, behind closet doors, on toilet partitions, in staterooms and cabins, in berths, in restaurants and in limousines. It may hold not only hats, ladies bags and programs but coats and cloaks, newspapers,

cigars, advertising matter, and other articles so numerous as to be beyond mention. It is my intention, however, to provide a folding hook peculiarly well adapted to hold a coat a program or the like.

106 or hat on the back of a chair in a theater or auditorium which may alsobe usedto hold The external upper end is offset as indicated at '27 from the casing, forming with the chair back a receptacle for the insertion of a card, or to hold the program, whenthe hook 14 is in its lower position.

What is claimed is 1. A device of the character described comprising a casing, a slot extending longitudinally of the casing for a portion of its length and terminating short of each end, a smooth imperforate seat or rest provided at the upper end of the casing beyond "the slot, inturned flanges bordering said slot, a

hookipivoted to theicasing at the lower ends of the flanges, a pin pivoted to the inner end of the hook, a spring mounted on the pin, and a shoulder formed in the casing and providing guide means for the reciprocationlof the pin and also a bearlngfor one end of the spring.

2. A device of the character described comprising a casing, a longitudinal slot extending a portion of the length of the casing, a hook pivoted to the casing at the lower end of the slot, said hook conformin to the shape of the casing and normally fi ling the slot and having its upper end projecting from the slot, the upper end of the casing beyond the slot being solid and providing a smooth seat for the upper end of the hook, spring means normally urging said hook efid against its seat, a pin pivoted to the inner end of the hook and engaging with the solid portion of the casing when the hook has been extended to form a stop for the hook and means integral With the casing for guiding said pin in its movements.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aifixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN G. HOME.

Witnesses: v

R. T. SHUGART, H. H. GREEN.

Copies of thil patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Gommluloner of l'atentl,

Washington, D. 0." 

